Testimony and Witnessing in Psychoanalysis

Rosenberg Schipper, Zipi

ISBN 10: 1032517832 / ISBN 13: 9781032517834

Published by Routledge, 2023

About this Item

Seller Inventory # I-9781032517834

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Testimony and Witnessing in Psychoanalysis
• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication Date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1032517832
• ISBN 13: 9781032517834
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

In this fascinating volume, Zipi Rosenberg Schipper approaches the fundamental topic of testimony, seeking to recognize its value as a distinct and vital function in psychoanalytic work, separate from its inherited importance to work on trauma.

Rosenberg Schipper introduces a revivifying philosophical, linguistic and psychoanalytic approach to the act of testimony, focusing on the role of witnessing in daily life and the importance it has as a therapeutic tool in psychoanalytic and psychological therapy. Throughout, she pinpoints three key psychoanalytic theories on patient testimony. She begins by looking at Freud’s foundational work on testimony as a means of concealing the unconscious and the questions of credibility in the consulting room this creates before looking at Winnicottian and Kohutian theories, whereby therapists take everything the patient says as a definitive truth. She concludes by looking at the Intersubjective and Relational schools of thought, where the therapist assumes the role of witness.

By providing a comprehensive overview of the conflicting theories on the topic, Rosenberg Schipper equips practicing psychoanalysts and analysts-in-training with the tools necessary to utilize this vital therapeutic device and engage with it in treatment for all patients.

About the Author

Zipi Rosenberg Schipper is a clinical psychologist, supervisor and occupational therapist working in private practice in Tel Aviv, Israel.